D.A.R.E. teaches our children--from kindergarten through high school-- that popularity can be found in positive behavior, that belonging need not require them to abandon their values, that self-confidence and self-worth come from asserting themselves and resisting destructive temptations. D.A.R.E. teaches them not just that they should refuse drugs and alcohol, but how to do so.

D.A.R.E.--Drug Abuse Resistance Education--is a preventive program originally developed in Los Angeles, California. Learning to say "No" and not feeling compelled to go along with the crowd is the essence of D.A.R.E. The program is sponsored by the Attorney General of Ohio , the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Ohio Department of Education , in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies and school districts across the state.

Sergeant Jim Knallay is D.A.R.E. officer for the Village of Ottawa Hills and is in the sixth grade classrooms every week for 10 weeks to teach students how to refuse drugs and alcohol. The D.A.R.E. approach is based on recent research. The traditional scare tactics that preach the harm of drug abuse are de-emphasized in the D.A.R.E. curriculum. Kids don't want to be told what to do. Instead, teens want to act grown-up. Many of them think smoking, drinking and using exotic drugs are passports to adulthood.

D.A.R.E. tries to teach students what being grown-up really means: not giving in to peer pressure, making your own decisions and learning to cope with life's problems in positive ways.

The program follows a carefully structured curriculum, focusing on topics such as personal safety, drug use and misuse, consequences of behavior, resisting peer pressure, building self-esteem, assertiveness training, managing stress without drugs, media images of drug use, role models, and support systems.

By getting the message from a streetwise police officer--one who's been out there, one who knows how drugs and alcohol can destroy lives-- kids take that message seriously.

And by getting to kids when they're most vulnerable to social pressure, when they're 10 or 11 years old or younger, D.A.R.E. helps them build the willpower and belief in themselves that they'll need to stay on track as they forge their futures.

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